01-10-2007, 04:55 AM
We have a troubled Nepal. Elements of GoI have been openly aiding maoists and missionaries in Nepal. minister considers maoists as brothers. Now we want to allow Bhutan to have its own foreign policy and greater autonomy. What is Bhutan's position as far as the naxal menace is concerned ? What if there is an overthrow of regime in Bhutan ? Will it be easy to rewrite the treaty again ?
What will be the repurcussions of this treaty ?
http://www.indianexpress.com/story/20492.html
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Rewriting history, India to unshackle Bhutan
Pranab Dhal Samanta / C Raja Mohan
Posted online: Tuesday, January 09, 2007 at 0000 hrs Print Email
1949 treaty: Article 2 asking for New Delhiâs advice in foreign policy will be amended
NEW DELHI, January 8: Signaling a historic shift in its policy towards smaller neighbours, India is set to rewrite a 57-year-old treaty with Bhutan that was patently unequal and widely seen as a symbol of New Delhiâs hegemonic intent in the subcontinent.
India has agreed to undertake permanent changes in the 1949 Indo-Bhutan treaty to allow the Bhutan government a more independent say in its foreign policy. Itâs learnt that the language in Article 2 of the treaty which asks Bhutan to be âguided by the advice of Government of India in regard to its external relations,â will be replaced by âlanguage of friendly cooperationâ that, in effect, will give a free hand to Thimpu in international affairs as long as it does not act against Indian interests.
Another crucial provision that is to undergo change will be Article 6 which allows Bhutan to import âarms, ammunition, machines, warlike material or storesâ for its âstrengthâ and âwelfareâ but with Indiaâs âassistance and approvalâ. While the exact formulation it still to be finalised, sources said, the idea of prior Indian approval for every military purchase will be relaxed. More likely, Bhutan will not require any such approval in purchase of non-lethal military stores and equipment. There will be influence in the form of assistance in making all military purchases, but sources said this will be reflected in the revised treaty more in the form of advice than control.
Article 4 of the treaty, which refers to India returning 32 sq miles territory in the area of Dewangiri, will be struck off as action has already be taken on this issue.
According to the MEA spokesperson, these changes âreflect the contemporary nature of our relationshipâ and aims at strengthening the relationship in a âmanner that is responsive to and serves each otherâs national interests through close cooperationâ.
Besides this, he said, the revision will involve broadening the scope of economic relations, particularly enabling âfurther intensificationâ of relations in hydel power cooperation, trade and commerce.
Itâs learnt that similar changes are also in the pipeline in case of the 1950 India-Nepal treaty. Sources said with both Bhutan and Nepal moving steadily towards democracy, changes have to be brought keeping in view the new Constitutional structures each seeks to set in place.
But it may be noted that in case of Nepal, one of key demands of the Maoists has been the abrogation of the 1950 treaty.
While this is unlikely to happen, India will have to consider changes to the treaty so that it is less offensive to Nepal. And given that outgoing Bhutan King Jigme Singye Wangchuk had taken a bold initiative laying out a roadmap to democracy, a response was needed there too.
The revised treaty with Bhutan is to be signed when future King Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuk visits India in the coming few weeks. South Block officials indicated that these changes will also throw up challenges requiring New Delhi to fashion its influence in more sophisticated manner, largely economic.
New Delhiâs bold departure from the past, sources say, underlines the Governmentâs commitment to modernise Indiaâs friendly relations with the smaller neighbours. It will also be in tune with the unfolding internal change in the Himalayan Kingdoms and the altering geopolitics of the Sino-Indian border, they add.
The decision will be celebrated in Thimpu which has long awaited Indiaâs formal acknowledgement of Bhutanâs full sovereignty. As part of a bold democratisation of Bhutan, initiated by the previous King a few years ago, general elections are due to be held next year under a new Constitution that passes much of the power to the people.
The renewed treaty with Thimpu will be closely read in Beijing, for China and Tibet have always been at the core of Indiaâs own Bhutan policy. The 1949 Treaty with Bhutan and the 1950 treaty with Nepal were written amidst Chinese assertion of territorial control over Tibet.
Signed during the early years of first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, these agreements were based on treaties that Britain had imposed on Nepal and Bhutan in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Many of the provisions of the 1949 treaty that seemed to undermine Bhutanâs independence and sovereignty had ceased to operate in practice.
Bhutan had stopped taking dictation from the South Block on its foreign policy long ago. But few in the Indian security establishment were prepared to address the imperatives for change. At least until recently.
While Thimpu was careful not to make public demarches on New Delhi to rewrite the out-dated treaty, the treatyâs unequal provisions were increasingly at odds with the new realities within Bhutan. The revision of the treaty apparently came up for bilateral discussion during King Jigme Singye Wangchukâs visit to India last year.
Public hints that India was reconsidering the terms of this outdated treaty came last September, when the then Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran said India had âno objectionsâ to its revision. The new foreign secretary Shiv Shankar Menonâs first trip abroad was to Bhutan last October, where he discussed the renewal of the treaty with the rulers of Thimpu. During the External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjeeâs visit to Thimpu in December, India had publicly stated its readiness to rework the treaty.
As part of the new urgency to restructure the relationship with Bhutan, India last month completed the demarcation of the boundary between the two countries. Bhutanâs boundary with China remains in dispute.
As China stepped up its diplomatic outreach to Bhutan in recent years, New Delhi has become increasingly aware of the dangers of persisting with the old framework of bilateral relations defined by the 1949 treaty.
Although Thimpu and Beijing do not have diplomatic relations, the two sides have regular exchanges.
The Chinese emphasis on âequalityâ with Bhutan, in the 1998 bilateral agreement on border tranquility, stood in contrast to the absence of a reference to Bhutanese sovereignty in the 1949 treaty with India.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
What will be the repurcussions of this treaty ?
http://www.indianexpress.com/story/20492.html
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Rewriting history, India to unshackle Bhutan
Pranab Dhal Samanta / C Raja Mohan
Posted online: Tuesday, January 09, 2007 at 0000 hrs Print Email
1949 treaty: Article 2 asking for New Delhiâs advice in foreign policy will be amended
NEW DELHI, January 8: Signaling a historic shift in its policy towards smaller neighbours, India is set to rewrite a 57-year-old treaty with Bhutan that was patently unequal and widely seen as a symbol of New Delhiâs hegemonic intent in the subcontinent.
India has agreed to undertake permanent changes in the 1949 Indo-Bhutan treaty to allow the Bhutan government a more independent say in its foreign policy. Itâs learnt that the language in Article 2 of the treaty which asks Bhutan to be âguided by the advice of Government of India in regard to its external relations,â will be replaced by âlanguage of friendly cooperationâ that, in effect, will give a free hand to Thimpu in international affairs as long as it does not act against Indian interests.
Another crucial provision that is to undergo change will be Article 6 which allows Bhutan to import âarms, ammunition, machines, warlike material or storesâ for its âstrengthâ and âwelfareâ but with Indiaâs âassistance and approvalâ. While the exact formulation it still to be finalised, sources said, the idea of prior Indian approval for every military purchase will be relaxed. More likely, Bhutan will not require any such approval in purchase of non-lethal military stores and equipment. There will be influence in the form of assistance in making all military purchases, but sources said this will be reflected in the revised treaty more in the form of advice than control.
Article 4 of the treaty, which refers to India returning 32 sq miles territory in the area of Dewangiri, will be struck off as action has already be taken on this issue.
According to the MEA spokesperson, these changes âreflect the contemporary nature of our relationshipâ and aims at strengthening the relationship in a âmanner that is responsive to and serves each otherâs national interests through close cooperationâ.
Besides this, he said, the revision will involve broadening the scope of economic relations, particularly enabling âfurther intensificationâ of relations in hydel power cooperation, trade and commerce.
Itâs learnt that similar changes are also in the pipeline in case of the 1950 India-Nepal treaty. Sources said with both Bhutan and Nepal moving steadily towards democracy, changes have to be brought keeping in view the new Constitutional structures each seeks to set in place.
But it may be noted that in case of Nepal, one of key demands of the Maoists has been the abrogation of the 1950 treaty.
While this is unlikely to happen, India will have to consider changes to the treaty so that it is less offensive to Nepal. And given that outgoing Bhutan King Jigme Singye Wangchuk had taken a bold initiative laying out a roadmap to democracy, a response was needed there too.
The revised treaty with Bhutan is to be signed when future King Jigme Khesar Namgyal Wangchuk visits India in the coming few weeks. South Block officials indicated that these changes will also throw up challenges requiring New Delhi to fashion its influence in more sophisticated manner, largely economic.
New Delhiâs bold departure from the past, sources say, underlines the Governmentâs commitment to modernise Indiaâs friendly relations with the smaller neighbours. It will also be in tune with the unfolding internal change in the Himalayan Kingdoms and the altering geopolitics of the Sino-Indian border, they add.
The decision will be celebrated in Thimpu which has long awaited Indiaâs formal acknowledgement of Bhutanâs full sovereignty. As part of a bold democratisation of Bhutan, initiated by the previous King a few years ago, general elections are due to be held next year under a new Constitution that passes much of the power to the people.
The renewed treaty with Thimpu will be closely read in Beijing, for China and Tibet have always been at the core of Indiaâs own Bhutan policy. The 1949 Treaty with Bhutan and the 1950 treaty with Nepal were written amidst Chinese assertion of territorial control over Tibet.
Signed during the early years of first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, these agreements were based on treaties that Britain had imposed on Nepal and Bhutan in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Many of the provisions of the 1949 treaty that seemed to undermine Bhutanâs independence and sovereignty had ceased to operate in practice.
Bhutan had stopped taking dictation from the South Block on its foreign policy long ago. But few in the Indian security establishment were prepared to address the imperatives for change. At least until recently.
While Thimpu was careful not to make public demarches on New Delhi to rewrite the out-dated treaty, the treatyâs unequal provisions were increasingly at odds with the new realities within Bhutan. The revision of the treaty apparently came up for bilateral discussion during King Jigme Singye Wangchukâs visit to India last year.
Public hints that India was reconsidering the terms of this outdated treaty came last September, when the then Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran said India had âno objectionsâ to its revision. The new foreign secretary Shiv Shankar Menonâs first trip abroad was to Bhutan last October, where he discussed the renewal of the treaty with the rulers of Thimpu. During the External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjeeâs visit to Thimpu in December, India had publicly stated its readiness to rework the treaty.
As part of the new urgency to restructure the relationship with Bhutan, India last month completed the demarcation of the boundary between the two countries. Bhutanâs boundary with China remains in dispute.
As China stepped up its diplomatic outreach to Bhutan in recent years, New Delhi has become increasingly aware of the dangers of persisting with the old framework of bilateral relations defined by the 1949 treaty.
Although Thimpu and Beijing do not have diplomatic relations, the two sides have regular exchanges.
The Chinese emphasis on âequalityâ with Bhutan, in the 1998 bilateral agreement on border tranquility, stood in contrast to the absence of a reference to Bhutanese sovereignty in the 1949 treaty with India.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->